Activism

Pro-Active vs. Reactive Approaches to Oakland’s Violence Crisis, Part 2

The level of violence today is a culmination of causes over periods of time. Some instances are random, however, most stem from long-standing feuds, “beefs” and generational conflicts that lay dormant until something brings it to the surface. As members of the Formerly Incarcerated Giving Back (FIGB), we do understand and recognize some of these root causes and what is truly needed to address them with resolve in mind.

Published

2 years ago

October 10, 2022

Oakland Post

While columnist Richard Johnson (right) was meeting with various formerly incarcerated group leaders to develop an outreach plan in response to the rash of recent killings in Oakland, he bumped into Chicago Rapper Common who was also going door-to-door urging the residents to get registered and vote for Pamela Price, his D.A. candidate. Richard said, “We both share something in common, we want to help stop the violence and we want to increase voting as a part of helping to solve problems.” Photo courtesy of Richard Johnson and Jonathan “Fitness” Jones.

By Richard Johnson

Violence in of itself is a reaction to various triggers that gives it life.

In other words, it is a manifestation of situations that prove to be unmanageable in that moment. In order to stem it, we, as a community must recognize it before it becomes the act itself and provide a conduit that allows the cause to be redirected into positivity rather than negativity.

As members of the Formerly Incarcerated Giving Back (FIGB), we do understand and recognize some of these root causes and what is truly needed to address them with resolve in mind.

These challenges aren’t new! However, in order to confront them, the approach has to be innovative and indicative of the problem.

We know that violence crosses all boundaries, races and cultures. Our plan is based on what we did in prison that proved to be quite successful at most times. Presently, we are in conference with several influential individuals who are highly respected both inside and outside of prison walls. They also see the destructive nature of mindless violence and are seeking to stop it.

With the understanding that there is no magic wand to wave and that some street formations won’t be receptive to our peace plan, we have started a dialogue to cease hostilities as we did inside of prison.

This approach has a proven history of being effective and we believe our approach can work because prison is a microcosm of society.

Time is of essence because lives are being destroyed each day. Meaningless talk needs to stop, and real action must begin. Since FIGB members aren’t politicians, we see things through different lens.

We desire immediate action via dialogue rather than promises. Quite naturally, there will be some CORE demands on both sides.

As previously mentioned, the Oakland Post News Group and AASEG has signed on to assist in this endeavor. This is a war on violence and must be seen as such. We need others to pledge to engage in this war on violence with us.

The Post staff called Pamela Price about Common’s appearance. She said “I was pleasantly surprised and deeply honored that Common would show up in the fight for justice in Alameda County. We need the voters to show up on November 8th to finish this race!”

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Activism

‘Respect Our Vote’ Mass Meeting Rejects Oakland, Alameda County Recalls

The mass meeting, attended mostly by members of local Asian American communities, was held in a large banquet room in a Chinese restaurant in Alameda. The Respect Our Vote (ROV) coalition, consisting of concerned community members and groups, is organizing meetings in Oakland and around Alameda County leading up to the November election.

Published

6 days ago

September 28, 2024

Oakland Post

Some of the leaders who spoke at the Respect Our Vote – No Recalls!” mass meeting were (left to right): Elaine Peng, Mariano Contreras, Pastor Servant B.K. Woodson, and Stewart Chen. Photo by Ken Epstein.

By Ken Epstein

A recently organized coalition, “Respect Our Vote – No Recalls!,” held a standing-room only mass meeting on Sept. 14, urging residents to vote ‘No’ on the two East Bay recalls funded by conservative billionaires and millionaires with the help of corporate media and instead to support the campaign to protect residents’ democratic right to choose their representatives.

The mass meeting, attended mostly by members of local Asian American communities, was held in a large banquet room in a Chinese restaurant in Alameda.

The Respect Our Vote (ROV) coalition, consisting of concerned community members and groups, is organizing meetings in Oakland and around Alameda County leading up to the November election.

Speaking at the meeting, prominent East Bay leader Stewart Chen said that local leaders, like Alameda County D.A. Pamela Price and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, worked hard to get elected, and our system says they get four years to carry out their policies and campaign promises. But rich people have “broken” that system.

Within two months after they took office, they were facing recalls paid for by billionaires, he said. “(Billionaires’) candidate did not get elected, so they want to change the system.”

“(Our elected leaders) were elected through the process, and the people spoke,” said Chen. “It’s the entire system that the billionaires are trying to (overturn).”

“If a candidate does something wrong or enacts a policy that we do not like, we let it play out, and in four years, we do not have to vote for them.

“The democratic system that we have had in place for a couple of hundred years, it needs our help,” said Chen.

Pastor Servant B.K. Woodson, a leader of the coalition, emphasized the diversity and solidarity needed to defend democracy. “We need each other’s wisdom to make our nation great, to make it safe. We are deliberately African American, English-speaking, Latino American, Spanish-speaking, and all the wonderful dialects in the Asian communities. We want to be together, grow together, and have a good world together.”

Mariano Contreras of the Latino Task Force said that people need to understand what is at stake now.

The recall leaders are connected to conservative forces that will undermine public education, and bilingual education, he said. “The people behind (the recalls) are being used by outside dark money,” he said. The spokespeople of these recalls are themselves conservatives “who are wearing a mask that says they are progressives.”

In 2017, Oakland passed an ordinance that gave teeth to its “Sanctuary City” policy, which was brought to the City Council and passed because it was supported by progressive members on the council.

“That would not be possible anymore if the progressive alliance – Sheng Thao, Nikki Fortunato Bas, and Carroll Fife – if they are pushed out,” he said.

Elaine Peng, president of Asian Americans for Progressive America, said, “I strongly oppose the recalls of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.”

Citing statistics, she said Alameda County’s murder rate was higher when Alameda County D.A. Nancy O’Malley was in office, before Pamela Price was elected to that position.

“The recall campaign has been misleading the public,” said Peng.

She said Oakland is making progress under Thao. “Crime rates are falling in Oakland,” and the City is building more affordable housing than ever before and is creating more jobs.

Attorney Victor Ochoa said, this recall is “not by accident in Oakland – it is a political strategy.”

“There is a strategy that has been launched nationwide. What we’re seeing is oligarchs, (such as Phillip Dreyfuss from Piedmont), right wingers, conservatives, who can write a check for $400,000 like some of us can write a check for $10.”

“They aligned themselves with so-called moderate forces, but they’re not moderates. They align themselves with the money, and that’s what we have seen in Oakland.”

Ochoa continued, “You got to put up signs, you’ve got to talk to your neighbors, volunteer whatever hours you can, have a house meeting. That’s the way progressives win.”

Pecolia Manigo of Oakland Rising Action spoke about what it will take to defeat the recalls. “This is the time when you are not only deputized to go out and do outreach, we need to make sure that people actually vote.

“We need everyone to vote not just for the president, but all the way down the ballot to where these questions will be. Remind people to fill out their ballot, and mail it back.”

Former Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, who had herself faced a recall attempt, said, “In this recall, they used a lot of money, had paid signature gatherers, and they moved very fast. I talked to many of the people gathering signatures. They didn’t know what was going on. Many of them didn’t live in Oakland. It was just money for them.”

“Sam Singer, the guy who is their spokesperson, is a paid PR guy. He has media ties, so they’ve swamped the media against Sheng,” Quan said.

‘Oakland is… a city that implemented some of the first rent control protections in the country. So, developers and big apartment owners would love to get rid of rent control,” said Quan.

“We also established ranked-choice voting, which allows people with less money to coalesce and win elections,” she said. “That’s too democratic for people with big money. They would rather have elections the way they were.”